M’s streak ends
CHICAGO – Sean Marshall’s confidence never wavered during his long rehabilitation for an injured left shoulder. Now that he’s healthy, Marshall is making teams pay, including the Mariners.
Marshall pitched eight strong innings, and the Chicago Cubs beat Seattle 3-2 on Wednesday night to snap the Mariners’ season-high five-game win streak.
Mike Fontenot’s two-run single with the bases loaded in the fifth broke a 1-1 tie, sending the Mariners to just their second loss in 11 games. After winning five straight in their final at-bat, there were no heroics for the Mariners.
It was difficult day all around for the Mariners. Second baseman Jose Lopez found out in the afternoon that his 28-year-old brother had died.
Lopez said a motorcycle was involved in his brother’s death but didn’t reveal specifics.
His father told him to play, so he did.
“He was a good man,” said Lopez, with tears welling in his eyes.
Lopez went 0 for 4 with an RBI.
Marshall (3-2) won his third straight start, allowing two runs and seven hits with no walks, striking out one. He’s showing what he can do after rehabilitation from his shoulder injury limited him to one appearance in spring training.
“I had a really good workout regimen with the trainers, and my off-season trainer,” said Marshall, who was recalled from Triple-A Iowa on May 22. “And I knew it was just a matter of time before I caught up to the guys up here in Chicago.”
He made one mistake against Richie Sexson, who led off the second with his 10th homer.
Otherwise, Marshall kept a team that began the night with a major league-leading 13-3 mark against lefties in check. Ryan Dempster pitched a perfect ninth for his 14th save in 16 chances.
“He had (five) starts in the minors, and our people were watching him,” manager Lou Piniella said. “And after the last start before he came here, they said, ‘He’s ready to go now.’ As soon as we heard that, we brought him up and put him in the rotation. It’s really been a wise decision by our front office.”
Seattle starter Miguel Batista (7-5) wasn’t bad, either. He lasted seven innings, allowing three runs – one earned – and nine hits. He struck out three and walked five.
Both teams got exactly what they needed from their starters after exhausting their bullpens the previous night, when the Mariners beat the Cubs 5-3 in 13 innings.
The Cubs got something else, too: a hit with the bases loaded, a night after going 0 for 5 with the bases full. That was the difference.
It happened after Ryan Theriot reached on a low throw by shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt with two out and the game tied at 1. The error was costly.
Fontenot drove in Derrek Lee and Mark DeRosa with a single past a diving Lopez into right field.
Batista could sympathize with Lopez’s loss. He started for the Diamondbacks last July the day after his grandmother died.
“It’s incredible that he had enough mind to play his position,” Batista said.
Sexson’s homer aside, Marshall breezed through the first five innings and avoided a big rally after Ichiro Suzuki led off the sixth with a triple to center.
Lopez drove him in with a grounder to short that made it 3-2, but Raul Ibanez ended the inning with a double play after Jose Guillen singled.
Sexson gave the Mariners a 1-0 lead when he drove the ball to the seats in center – the fifth homer in his last 13 games.
Chicago tied it in the third, and Marshall did his part.
He lowered his ERA to 2.12 – a big improvement from last year, when he was 6-9 with a 5.59 ERA in 24 starts as a rookie.
“I can’t be disappointed at all about the last five games,” Marshall said.